Korea Investment CORP Decreases Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Korea Investment CORP trimmed its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 48,651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,195 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $15,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 45.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $336.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $384.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $351.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.54. The company has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.55%.

LPL Financial Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.